Joan Collins, 81, has been made a dame for her services to charity and said she was 'humbled'

Kristin Scott Thomas, 54, (left) and Meera Syal, 53, (right) lead a charge of older women today as they are recognised in the Queen's New Year Honours list

Miss Collins is made a dame for her services to charity. In 2006, the actress played down her chances of the honour, saying: 'I wouldn't get one. I don't have the body of work of Judi Dench and Diana Rigg.'

But today she said: 'To be honoured in the Queen’s Near Year list and to become a Dame, which is something incredibly special, and I am beyond thrilled and beyond excited.'

She added that she would not allow her new title to go to her head and that receiving a similar honour had changed her great screen idol, fellow-actress Elizabeth Taylor.

Former TV presenter Miss Rantzen, becomes a dame for her charity work. The That's Life! star founded ChildLine in 1986 after highlighting the problem of child abuse on the BBC show and being deluged with calls from victims.

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She said yesterday her 'greatest wish' was that her husband Desmond Wilcox had lived to see her chosen for the honour. Mr Wilcox, a documentary maker, died in 2000.

'I am thrilled that this honour recognises the contribution made by ChildLine and The Silver Line in transforming lives,' she said, adding that Mr Wilcox would have been 'so excited'.

Miss Quant, who made the miniskirt a fashion essential and later popularised hot pants, has also been made a dame. She said yesterday: 'I am absolutely delighted … It is extremely gratifying that my work in the fashion industry has been recognised and acknowledged in such a significant way.'

Actress, author and comedian Miss Syal, who starred in Goodness Gracious Me, is made a CBE for her services to drama and literature.

Emily Watson (left) who won a Bafta for Appropriate Adult, is appointed an OBE while Sheridan Smith (right) is made an OBE for services to television

Fellow actress Miss Watson – who won a Bafta for Appropriate Adult, ITV1's dramatisation of the investigation into serial killer Fred West – is appointed an OBE. Yesterday, she said: 'I was quietly smiling to myself all day when I heard.'

Among younger performers, Sheridan Smith, 33, who recently starred in ITV drama Cilla, and has won a Bafta and two Olivier Awards, is made an OBE for services to TV. She said: 'I'm sincerely thankful and humbled… and hope to continue doing the work that I love for many years to come.'

Her former boyfriend James Corden, 36, with whom she starred in sitcom Gavin and Stacey, also becomes an OBE for services to entertainment and charity.

The actor, writer and soon-to-be US chat show host said he was 'thrilled, overwhelmed and honoured'.

Actor John Hurt, 74, who starred in The Elephant Man, has been made a knight to mark a stage and film career that has spanned more than 50 years.

Miss Duffy becomes a dame and said she was 'delighted' that poetry was recognised in the honours list.

She was among 1,164 people recognised by today's New Year's Honours.

Of this year's recipients, 6 per cent are from ethnic minorities, while 45 per cent of the senior awards – CBE and above – are given to women, a jump of 10 per cent compared with the Queen's Birthday Honours list issued earlier this year.

The former top policewoman who led the bungled operation in which Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by armed officers on the London Underground has been made a CBE.

Cressida Dick who quit Scotland Yard earlier this month, receives the honour for services to policing.

Mr de Menezes, 27, an innocent Brazilian electrician, was killed in 2005 after he was mistaken for one of the July 21 plotters who tried to bomb the Tube as a result of a deeply flawed surveillance operation.

As 'Gold' commander on the day, Miss Dick gave the order to 'stop' Mr de Menezes as he entered Stockwell Tube station.

Two officers cornered him on a Tube train and shot him seven times in the head at close range with expanding 'hollow point' bullets.

The Metropolitan Police offered an unreserved apology to the family of Mr de Menezes and paid them more than £10,000 in compensation.

Miss Dick, now 54, survived the scandal and went on to become the country's most senior woman officer – a Yard assistant commissioner – and was tipped to lead the London force.

Now she is due to begin a new job as a 'director general' at the Foreign Office.

Oxford-educated Miss Dick, who is president of the British Association of Women Police, joined the Met as a constable in 1983.

Cressida Dick (left) who led the bungled operation in which Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead, and Fiona Woolf (right), who resigned as chairman of the Government child abuse inquiry, have both been recognised on the Honours list

Ex-mayor who was forced to quit Government abuse probe after being linked to Lord Brittan is made a dame

Fiona Woolf becomes a dame two months after being forced to resign as chairman of the Government's child abuse inquiry.

The honour is customary for Lord Mayors of London – the post that was held by Dame Fiona, pictured, from 2013-14.

But the decision will be contentious with abuse survivors who campaigned to have her thrown off the inquiry.

She quit in October after failing to declare the extent of her links to Tory peer Leon Brittan. Critics may suspect the honour was a sop to compensate her for losing the job. Sir Bob Kerslake, head of the Civil Service, said: 'Her honour reflects what she has achieved throughout her career.'

Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who exposed the Cyril Smith child sex scandal, said the damehood 'seems inappropriate', adding: 'I can think of many more worthy recipients … once again it looks like the Establishment are looking after their own.'

Honour for Blair's aid who brokered deal that took us into Iraq war (Even thought Chilcot STILL hasn't reported)

Tony Blair's key aide who helped him forge a secret pact with George Bush to wage war in Iraq receives a top honour today.

Sir David Manning, who was Mr Blair's foreign policy adviser and is now an aide to Prince William, is made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.

The honour comes as Sir David faces the prospect of stern criticism in the delayed Chilcot report into the 2003 war.

Eve of war: Sir David Manning (circled), with then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, President George Bush and Tony Blair in 2002

Sir David was at Mr Blair's side in the run-up to the Iraq War. He gave evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry of meetings he had attended, in which President Bush and the Labour prime minister drew up secret plans for the invasion nine months before the outbreak of war.

Friends of Sir David, who went on to be British ambassador to the US, have expressed concern that Chilcot will savage him – as well as Mr Blair – in the long-awaited report.

The adviser attended crucial meetings between Mr Blair and Mr Bush in June 2002 and January 2003 as they plotted how to launch a war in the face of public opinion against it.

Friends of Sir David Have expressed concern that Chilcot will savage him – as well as Mr Blair – in the long-awaited report

After the first of those meetings, in July 2002, he hand-delivered to Condoleezza Rice, then US Secretary of State, a personal letter from Mr Blair to Mr Bush – described by critics as offering a 'blank cheque' to the US president.

The letter has since 'gone missing' from the official presidential library, but is said to have begun with the words: 'You know, George, whatever you decide to do, I'm with you.'

Sir David also wrote a now notorious secret memo after the January 2003 meeting which showed the US invasion of Iraq would definitely go ahead with or without UN support.

It was especially controversial because it discussed ways of provoking Saddam Hussein into a confrontation to justify war – and showed that Mr Blair was prepared to support the invasion regardless of whether or not UN inspectors discovered weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Blair had assured Parliament that the Iraqi leader would be given a final chance to disarm.

However, Sir David did tell Chilcot he thought Britain should not have gone to war without a second UN resolution and that weapons inspectors should have been 'given longer' to search for weapons of mass destruction.

Former Lib Dem minister Norman Baker said: 'We don't yet know what the Chilcot report will say but it would seem generally sensible not to give out top honours to people who may or may not be criticised by it.'

Educated at Ardingly College and Oriel College, Oxford, Sir David, 65, was a career diplomat who served in Warsaw, Paris, Tel Aviv, Moscow and Nato headquarters before being personally selected by Tony Blair to replace Sir Christopher Meyer as British ambassador in Washington in 2003.

Sir David was at Mr Blair's side in the run-up to the Iraq War. He gave evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry of meetings he attended, in which President Bush and the prime minister drew up secret plans for the invasion

Sir David, who was originally knighted in 2008 for his diplomatic work, has now been elevated to the Royal Victorian Order after working unpaid for William, Kate and Harry's household for more than five years.

He was appointed to the job in 2009, with his wealth of experience on the international stage, and accompanies them on overseas tours advising on foreign policy.

The Royal Victorian Order is given by the Queen to people who have served the monarchy in a personal way. It is bestowed independently of Number 10 Downing Street.

Last night a caretaker at Sir David's £6million Chelsea townhouse said he was out of the country and unavailable for comment.

Two Network Rail executives feature in the honours list just days after the company was criticised for over-running engineering work that caused Christmas chaos.

NR's over-running engineering work led to chaotic scenes last Saturday with King's Cross and Paddington stations in London having to be closed.

South East route managing director Dave Ward is made an OBE, while his counterpart for western England, Patrick Hallgate, is made an MBE.

Mr Hallgate's responsibilities include routes in and out of Paddington, while Mr Ward's responsibilities include routes in and out of London Bridge station where work on the Thameslink rail project has meant the station being closed from December 20 to January 4.

A Network Rail spokesman said the pair were not involved in the problems near London King's Cross that resulted in huge delays for passengers over the weekend.

Mother and father recognised for tireless work on behalf of those bereaved in 1989 Hillsborough disaster

A mother and father who fought for a quarter of a century for justice for the victims of the Hillsborough disaster have been made CBEs in recognition of their tireless work on behalf of those bereaved by the disaster in 1989.

Margaret Aspinall, who lost her son James, 18, in the tragedy and Trevor Hicks, whose daughters Sarah, 19, and Victoria, 15, also died, have received CBEs for services to the families of the 96 Liverpool fans crushed to death on April 15, 1989.

Mrs Aspinall, chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group (HFSG), and Trevor Hicks, president of the group, were the driving force in a decades-long legal battle ending with the quashing of earlier inquest verdicts and the holding of the currently on-going new inquests.

Campaigner Margaret Aspinall, who lost her son James in the Hillsborough disaster, has been made a CBE

Both spoke of mixed feelings after what Mrs Aspinall called the 'long, long struggle' for justice from the authorities who were now 25 years later bestowing titles on them.

But they also said attitudes were finally changing after the mud flung' and 'stigma' attached to the Hillsborough disaster.

'Obviously I thought it was an absolutely lovely thing to be linked with, the Honours list, to be associated with, but at the same time it was a dichotomy.

'We are at the inquests at the moment and to me that's the most important thing, so I was in a dilemma - do you accept or do you not accept? Because so many people were involved in all this.

'Then I thought there could not be a nicer way to end the year, to accept it on behalf of all those people involved.

'It's not just about Trevor Hicks and Margaret Aspinall, it's about everybody involved in this. It's all about the people who stood by us.

'From the beginning, when you are fighting against everything, nearly 26 years ago, you had this stigma against you all the time, fighting against that, I feel we have turned it all around now and the stigma is going away.

Trevor Hicks, Chairman of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, has also been recognised for his work

'People are seeing now, the real people, what the genuine people are like, and the people who stood by the families and stayed with them all these years, so it's for them as well.'

Mr Hicks said the award showed how attitudes to the disaster had changed.

He said: 'A very pleasant surprise - totally unexpected as we spent 20 plus years taking on 'arms of the state' and governments of all political persuasions.

'Awarding the honour of a CBE shows how much tide of opinion has changed and is further acknowledgement of the wrongs of the past and the 25 years hard work we have all had putting things right.

The honour of a CBE shows how much tide of opinion has changed and is further acknowledgement of the wrongs of the past

Trevor Hicks

'I hope that people will understand that I have mixed feelings.

'Extremely proud both on a personal level and for the HFSG, its former and present officers and all the families.

'Yet a degree of humility as I was 'only doing what anyone would do' in the circumstances that I found myself thrust in to.

'It is with understandable regret that Sarah, Victoria and the rest of the 96 paid the ultimate price and clearly I wish none of this had ever happened.'

Steve Rotheram, Labour MP for Liverpool Walton, added: 'These awards are recognition of the steadfast resolve of families in their fight for truth and justice.

'Both Margaret Aspinall and Trevor Hicks have shown remarkable resolve and leadership over many years and it is fitting that the very establishment that conspired to deny natural justice has been forced by the sheer weight of public opinion to recognise the outstanding work of campaigners.

'I am delighted for Margaret and Trevor and for everyone who has supported the ongoing campaign over the last 25 years.'

Great-grandmother, 86, gets MBE for decades of good deeds for the Scouting Movement

Hazel Geach was honoured for her efforts for the Scouting Movement over 46 years

An 86-year-old great-grandmother was made an MBE in recognition of decades of work with young people.

Hazel Geach was honoured for her efforts for the Scouting Movement over 46 years and is among the members of the public in the New Year Honours list.

Jamal Edwards, 24, who created the youth media platform SB.TV, was made an MBE for his services to music.

He was a teenager when he launched the website, which he used to upload clips of his friends performing in Acton, West London. Less than a decade later, he has worked with singers Jessie J, Emeli Sande and helped launch the career of Ed Sheeran.

Also honoured was Pastor Gbolahan Bright, a volunteer maths teacher in Dagenham, who was made an MBE for his services to education in East London. He said: 'Teaching is my life.'

Marathon runner Fauja Singh from London becomes the oldest honours recipient at 103, receiving the British Empire Medal for services to sport and charity.

The youngest is Louise Greer, 17, from Coleraine, Londonderry, who was recognised for services to the charities Riding for the Disabled and Meningitis UK.

Britain's entrepreneurs are celebrated today as a plumber and a woman who set up a handbag company from her kitchen table are awarded New Year's honours.

Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins and Julie Deane, joint founder of the Cambridge Satchel Company, were both appointed OBEs.

Self-made millionaire Mr Mullins, 59, left school at 15 with no qualifications and founded his business in 1979 after training as an apprentice.

Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins (left) was made an OBE while former Dragons' Den star James Caan (right) was made a CBE

Yesterday he said: 'I can't imagine many people have ever received an OBE for plumbing services. What took me into plumbing was that it was a job for life and to think it's led to this.'

Mrs Deane founded her handbag brand with her mother six years ago to raise money to send her children to private school. She said: 'I'm immensely proud of what we have achieved and this recognition is the icing on the cake.'

Meanwhile former Dragons' Den star James Caan and lastminute.com co-founder Brent Hoberman were made CBEs.

Businesswoman Dianne Thompson, the former boss of Camelot which runs the National Lottery, was made a dame.

Jane Shepherdson MBE, chief executive of fashion brand Whistles, was appointed a CBE for her work in retail.

'Father of Viagra' made a knight after playing key role in developing the drug

Dr Simon Campbell, who played a key role in the development of Viagra, was made a knight.

The 73-year-old started and oversaw research on Viagra while working for the drug company Pfizer, from where he retired in 1998.

During his 26-year stint there, Dr Campbell was associated with three new drugs, all aimed at treating high blood pressure.

The last one turned out to have a valuable side effect because it improved blood flow to the penis. It famously hit the market in 1998 as Viagra.

Dr Simon Campbell (right), pictured in 2006, presents Heston Blumenthal with an Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Society of Chemistry. Dr Campbell was president at the time

But Dr Campbell was quick to point out that he was not the inventor of Viagra. Although he co-wrote the initial research proposal, others took over the chemistry.

He told the BBC: 'I'm not on the Viagra patent. If you want, I would say I was the father of Viagra because I laid the seed and started the project.'

Since it went on sale in 1998 more than a billion of the pills have been sold.

D Campbell was highly critical when Pfizer announced it was to close its giant research centre at Sandwich, Kent, in 2011. He said it would compromise the UK's status as a centre of excellence for pharmaceutical research.

Dr Campbell was made a CBE for services to science in 2006.

Honours for top athletes including former Olympic athlete Steve Cram - but there's still no Sir Jonny

Jonny Wilkinson, who retired from rugby this year, was tipped to receive a knighthood

Former Olympic athletes Steve Cram, Dame Mary Peters and Wendy Sly are among the recipients of awards in the New Year Honours - but reports that rugby star Jonny Wilkinson would receive a knighthood have proved groundless.

Cram, the former world champion, 1984 Olympic silver medallist and world record holder at 1,500 metres, is made a CBE in recognition of his recent work as chair of the English Institute of Sport (EIS).

Cram said: 'It's really fantastic to have this recognition. A large part of my journey since then has been the EIS and we have put a lot of things in place to give support to our Olympic programmes.'

Peters, from Northern Ireland, won gold in the pentathlon at the 1972 Olympics and was made a Dame in 2000. She is now made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for services to sport and the community in Northern Ireland.

Sly, who won silver in the 3,000m at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, receives an MBE for services to athletics.

But retired rugby star Jonny Wilkinson was left without a knighthood, despite heightening speculation via a cryptic message on Twitter that he was due to receive one.

He had written: 'So many more deserving amongst u who won’t get recognition.

'To you I say thanks 4 the lessons in life. 4 the messages - u guys are incredible.'

But hours before the list was confirmed, he appeared to have a change of heart, tweeting: 'Might not be on the NY list by the way.

'Congrats 2 those will be + the many who deserve 2 be. Your support still baffles the hell out of me!'

Reports that Wilkinson would become 'Sir Jonny' prompted Sir Bob Kerslake, the outgoing head of the Civil Service, to say he would look into the issue of individuals being wrongly named as receiving honours.

PROBE LAUNCHED INTO LEAKING OF HIGH-PROFILE HONOURS

An inquiry will be carried out into the leaking of a string of high-profile honours from the New Year list.

Awards for actors John Hurt, James Corden and Sheridan Smith, as well as Joan Collins and Esther Rantzen, were all revealed in reports before they were formally published today.

Recipients usually learn they are to be honoured weeks before the list is published, but are sworn to secrecy.

Sir Bob Kerslake, the outgoing head of the Civil Service, said he was 'concerned' by the 'highly regrettable' leaks.

He said: 'I can't comment on where they are coming from. We will look into it, I'll leave it at that.'

High-profile names have been slipped out in previous years, but Sir Bob said they will look into the 'extent of leakage' this year.

He also highlighted the issue of individuals being wrongly named. Reports that rugby star Jonny Wilkinson was set to receive a knighthood were false.

He said: 'I am very concerned. It is highly regrettable and we will look into it.

'It’s particularly unfair when names get quoted in the papers who then subsequently aren’t on the list.'

High-profile honours have frequently been leaked ahead of previous lists, but Sir Bob said they will look into the 'extent of leakage' this year.

Wilkinson has had a glittering 17-year career before announcing his retirement in May.

But he is also known for his ­extensive charity work in Britain, including for the NSPCC, and in France, where he played for Toulon for five years, from 2009.

His performance in the Sydney World Cup - including a last-minute drop-goal in extra time to seal victory over Australia - earned him the OBE in the 2004 New Year Honours list.

In other honours, Britain's FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce, from Northern Ireland, receives an OBE for services to football. Boyce, a former Irish Football Association president and current head of FIFA's referees' committee, steps down from the vice-presidency in May.

Boyce, who was severely injured in a Belfast car bomb in 1972, said: 'I would like to dedicate this honour to the people who kept football in Northern Ireland going through the many, many difficult years.'

Brendan Batson, the former West Brom defender who was one of the pioneers for black footballers in the 1970s also receives an MBE for services to football.

Former Olympic athletes Steve Cram (left) and Dame Mary Peters are among the recipients in the Honours

Batson, previously an MBE, worked for the Professional Footballers' Association and more recently has been an adviser to the FA on equality and football development.

Batson said: 'When we look at the way things have evolved over the years as a whole I am very pleased with the development of black players but there is still a long way to go to address the lack of representation in coaching, management and governance.'

There is an MBE for Crewe's long-serving chairman John Bowler, who took over in 1987 and helped make the club into a fertile developing ground for young talent.

Linvoy Primus, the former Portsmouth defender, receives an MBE for services to football and charity.

Two of the England women's rugby team who beat Canada to win the World Cup in August receive honours.

Vice-captain and number eight Sarah Hunter, and prop Rochelle Clark - who is England's second-most-capped player with 95 appearances - both receive MBEs.

Britain's FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce, from Northern Ireland, receives an OBE for services to football

Hunter, who also captained England during the Six Nations championships, said: 'It's a massive honour to be recognised in this way. As a team we have enjoyed incredible success and I'm so proud to be a part of that.'

Clark added: 'If you had asked me in 2003 - when I got my first cap - if I would become a world champion and receive an MBE I wouldn't have believed it, but 11 years on it's all happened at once.'

Paul Murphy, a past chairman and president of the Rugby Football Union, receives the British Empire Medal.

David Collier, who stepped down as chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board last summer after a successful 10-year spell, receives an OBE.

Boxer Paddy Barnes, twice an Olympic bronze medallist who won gold medals for Northern Ireland at the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, receives an MBE.

There is also an MBE in the diplomatic and overseas list for Mark Wood, who lives in Canada but works as coach for the British skeleton team which has achieved gold medals at the last two minutes.

Kate Richardson-Walsh, the much-decorated captain of the England and Great Britain hockey teams, also receives an MBE.

She broke her jaw in the opening match of the London Olympics but after missing two matches returned to inspire the team to the bronze medal.